Tribal Connect Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4529 To improve access by Indian Tribes to support from the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support program (E-rate) of the Federal Communica- tions Commission, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 13, 2020 Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs A BILL To improve access by Indian Tribes to support from the Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support program (E-rate) of the Federal Communications Commission, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Connect Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4529 IS SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES AND QUALI- 1 FYING ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY-SERVING IN- 2 STITUTIONS FOR E-RATE SUPPORT. 3 Section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 4 U.S.C. 254) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (h)(4), by inserting ‘‘, except 6 as provided in subsection (m),’’ before ‘‘is a library 7 or library consortium’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(m) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES AND 10 QUALIFYING ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY-SERVING INSTITU- 11 TIONS FOR E-RATE SUPPORT.— 12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 13 ‘‘(A) the term ‘broadband internet access 14 service’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 15 tion 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regula- 16 tions, or any successor regulation; 17 ‘‘(B) the term ‘E-rate program’ means the 18 universal service program for schools and li- 19 braries authorized under subsection (h)(1)(B), 20 the rules of which are set forth under subpart 21 F of part 54 of title 47, Code of Federal Regu- 22 lations (or any successor regulation), as author- 23 ized under subsection (h)(2)(A); 24 ‘‘(C) the term ‘E-rate support’ means uni- 25 versal service discounts on eligible services in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4529 IS accordance with subpart F of part 54 of title 1 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc- 2 cessor regulation), as authorized under sub- 3 section (h)(2)(A); 4 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the 5 meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in section 6 20.100 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, 7 or any successor regulation; 8 ‘‘(E) the term ‘qualifying essential commu- 9 nity-serving institution’ means a facility exclu- 10 sively owned by an Indian Tribe, including a 11 tribal government building, chapter house, 12 longhouse, community center, senior center, or 13 other similar public building; and 14 ‘‘(F) the term ‘Tribal College or Univer- 15 sity’ has the meaning given the term in section 16 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 17 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 18 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES FOR E- 19 RATE SUPPORT.— 20 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION OF TRIBAL LIBRARIES 21 AS LIBRARIES ELIGIBLE FOR E-RATE SUP- 22 PORT.— 23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An Indian Tribe 24 that is eligible for support under section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4529 IS 261 of the Library Services and Tech- 1 nology Act (20 U.S.C. 9161) may des- 2 ignate a tribal library or tribal library con- 3 sortium, including a public-serving library 4 of a Tribal College or University, as a li- 5 brary or consortium that is eligible for E- 6 rate support, without regard to whether 7 the library or library consortium is eligible 8 for assistance from a State Library Ad- 9 ministrative Agency under the Library 10 Services and Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 11 9121 et seq.), if the library or library con- 12 sortium is eligible for support from an In- 13 dian Tribe under such section 261. 14 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 15 Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to 16 exempt a tribal library from any require- 17 ment under the E-rate program not de- 18 scribed in that clause, including the other 19 requirements relating to eligible recipients 20 under section 54.501 of title 47, Code of 21 Federal Regulations (or any successor reg- 22 ulation). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4529 IS ‘‘(B) TRIBAL ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY- 1 SERVING INSTITUTION DEMONSTRATION PRO- 2 GRAM.— 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, 4 in consultation with the Institute of Mu- 5 seum and Library Services and any other 6 agency with relevant responsibilities, shall 7 establish a pilot program to be known as 8 the ‘Tribal Essential Community-Serving 9 Institution Program’, under which the 10 Commission shall provide E-rate support 11 to Indian Tribes for qualifying essential 12 community-serving institutions, as des- 13 ignated by an Indian Tribe. 14 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY.—E-rate support 15 obtained under this subparagraph shall 16 only be available to an Indian Tribe if the 17 proposed qualifying essential community- 18 serving institution intends to deliver pub- 19 licly available internet access and tele- 20 communications services to students, 21 teachers, librarians, and members of the 22 community. 23 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBILITY FOR E-RATE AFTER 24 THE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—A quali- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4529 IS fying essential community-serving institu- 1 tion that receives E-rate support under 2 this subparagraph shall be eligible for E- 3 rate support at the end of the 3-year pe- 4 riod described in subparagraph (C). 5 ‘‘(C) USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—Of the 6 amount collected for the Universal Service 7 Fund under subsection (d), $100,000,000 shall 8 be made available for the 3-fiscal-year period 9 beginning after the date of enactment of the 10 Tribal Connect Act of 2020 to the Commission 11 to carry out this paragraph. 12 ‘‘(3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 13 FOR TRIBAL SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES.— 14 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Commission 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(i) direct the Administrator of the 17 Schools and Libraries Universal Service 18 Support program to submit an annual re- 19 port to the Commission regarding the ac- 20 tions of the Schools and Libraries Uni- 21 versal Service Support program to ensure 22 that tribal schools and libraries can par- 23 ticipate fully and effectively in the E-rate 24 program, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4529 IS ‘‘(I) outreach efforts targeted to 1 tribal schools and libraries to promote 2 awareness of the E-rate program; 3 ‘‘(II) specific E-rate training pro- 4 grams for tribal schools and libraries; 5 and 6 ‘‘(III) other technical assistance 7 initiatives regarding the program’s ap- 8 plication process that are available to 9 tribal schools and libraries; and 10 ‘‘(ii) submit each annual report de- 11 scribed in clause (i) to— 12 ‘‘(I) the Committee on Com- 13 merce, Science, and Transportation of 14 the Senate; 15 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Indian 16 Affairs of the Senate; 17 ‘‘(III) the Committee on Energy 18 and Commerce of the House of Rep- 19 resentatives; and 20 ‘‘(IV) the Committee on Natural 21 Resources of the House of Represent- 22 atives. 23 ‘‘(B) REVIEW OF ANNUAL REPORTS.—The 24 Commission shall review each annual report re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4529 IS quired under subparagraph (A) to determine 1 whether additional steps are necessary to en- 2 sure that tribal schools and libraries can par- 3 ticipate fully and effectively in the E-rate pro- 4 gram. 5 ‘‘(C) UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND TECH- 6 NICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—The Com- 7 mission, in consultation with the Institute of 8 Museum and Library Services, shall provide 9 technical assistance and training to Indian 10 Tribes with respect to Universal Service Fund 11 programs. 12 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION AND PERFORMANCE MEAS- 13 UREMENT.—The Commission shall— 14 ‘‘(A) improve the reliability of the data of 15 the Commission relating to institutions that re- 16 ceive E-rate support by defining the term ‘trib- 17 al’ on the application for E-rate support; and 18 ‘‘(B)(i) develop performance goals and 19 measures to track progress on achieving the 20 strategic objective of the Commission of ensur- 21 ing that all Indian Tribes have affordable ac- 22 cess to broadband internet access service for 23 educational purposes for students, teachers, li- 24 brarians, and members of the community; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4529 IS ‘‘(ii) in coordination with the Institute of 1 Museum and Library Services, identify all tribal 2 libraries and developing tribal libraries in the 3 United States; and 4 ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 year after the date 5 of enactment of this subsection, submit to Con- 6 gress and make public a report on the goals 7 and measures developed under clause (i) and 8 the list of libraries identified under clause (ii).’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4529.IS S4529 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS